It is a known secret and generally accepted that ordinary Seychellois workers are over-worked and under-paid. Now to add insult to injury and make matters worse, President James Alix Michel and the SPPF are sacking Seychellois workers in large numbers from their government employment. This is the legacy of the SPPF. “Out of 56 workers who had their employment terminated abruptly and without warning recently, only one foreigner got the sack,” said Minister Macsuzy Mondon, unashamedly. This comes from the very government which never hesitated in the past to claim the slogan that “
First, in 2003 the government told these unfortunate workers that they would be heavily taxed and slapped a 12% GST on everything that they would consume in future.
Secondly, they were told that the GST tax is not enough and that they will have to pay an additional tax on their cars, adding another rupee for each cc. This seemed a brilliant idea at the time.
Thirdly, they were informed that these taxes were still not enough and that now they will have to pay additional taxes on petrol and diesel, a R.7.00 tax for every litre that they consume, was promptly introduced.
Fourthly, the SPPF government started to devalue the rupee on a daily basis making these poor workers poorer still and reducing their purchasing power by as much as 50% in six months. Meanwhile, their salaries remained fixed, except for those higher up in the government who were promoted to new higher posts but still doing the same job.
Finally, before they knew what hit them, they were also told that the government is still far from happy with the level of taxes the workers are paying and started sacking them indiscriminately, dubbing the exercise a “re-structuring programme” for lack of a better word and to keep the workers in a permanent state of confusion. And there is more to come.
As rumours are rife that the government is set to increase taxes further on vehicles to R.2 per cc instead of R.1 the poor Seychellois workers are bracing themselves for the worse. If this does not bring them pouring on the streets of
Once upon a time the President reminded the very same workers that he did indeed have a heart for each and every one of them; a heart for every Seychellois. The President said he was a compassionate President with a compassionate heart. He reminded them too that the SPPF was a party for workers and made up of workers.
They were also told once that the government would absorb the cost of the increase in the international price of fuel. He also said that the rupee will not be devalued. “You see, my brethren, you misunderstood the government completely. You are to blame for your own hardship. When we, the SPPF government, told you that we would absorb the increase in the price of fuel, we actually meant the opposite. When we told you that we would not devalue the rupee we also meant the opposite. When we told you that we would reduce taxes and not penalize you further, we also meant the opposite. In future you should pay very close attention to what we, the SPPF government, say. We always mean the opposite of what we say. This is a unique style of government. It is tried and tested and works all the time. Now you go and judge me by my action and come back in 2011 with your verdict!”
The SPPF government did try its utmost to strangle the private sector with archaic legislations intended to put them all out of business. The government even went to the extent of competing with the private sector, although not on a level playing field. It brought the private sector almost to its knees with judicial harassment and persecution as a favourite tool to achieve this diabolic purpose.
Now President James Michel tells us that the government needs the private sector to create wealth for the country. He says that the government will from now on be a facilitator instead. Government would privatise all its businesses. It will only collect taxes henceforth he said to pay for government expenditure. If true, SPPF is clearly going back 30 years after an irresponsible economic experiment, which nearly bankrupted the whole country. If this is not madness, then we do not know what is, do you?